LAHORE: National federations urged the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) to install air-conditioners at its facilities across the country so that proper preparation could be made for the 19th Asian Games slated to be held in Hangzhou, China, from September 23 to October 8.
“You know it’s a crunch time as federations are set to begin their preparations for the Asian Games. But proper facilities must be ensured by the PSB as we don’t see any cooling system in any of the major facilities of the Board across the country,” a senior official of a very influential federation told ‘The News’.
“Not only the training halls must have cooling system but there is also an intense need of installing air-conditioners in the hostels.
“If you even ignore one zone then it will affect training. If you don’t provide air-conditioned rooms to the players then in hot weather they will not have sound sleep after training and it will harm them. If you don’t provide them air-conditioned halls for training then they will not be able to implement their training plans and will get exhausted soon.
“Currently we see some camps in facilities owned by the PSB across the country but they lack cooling system. Instead of creating more facilities it would be better to properly maintain the available facilities which the Board owns."
An official of another federation told this correspondent that they had a very harsh experience when they were preparing for the Birmingham Commonwealth Games last year.
“The weather was very hot and our players would get perspired soon after starting training and would lose their energy within no time in the halls which lacked cooling system,” the official recalled.
“Again a tough season is approaching and we are to prepare for the Asian Games. It would be better if the PSB started installing air-conditioners in all the facilities in order to ensure the players work hard for the Asian Games."
A top official of another federation said that the state should establish sports facilities at places like Abbottabad and Gilgit-Baltistan where weather is good in summer.
“Instead of raising sports facility at Narowal it would have been much better had a major facility been established at Abbottabad where camps could be held in summer,” the official said.
“You can also establish facilities in Gilgit-Baltistan which is at a high altitude. There are three things needed for ensuring your boys train well for any international event. You should ensure players reside in a good environment; they take sound sleep and get quality food. If you take away a single thing from it then it will hurt your cause and players cannot prepare properly for an international meet."
National federations have prepared their plans for holding camps for the Asian Games. Some have already begun their training for the quadrennial spectacle in which winning medals will be a challenging task.
Pakistan has so far grabbed 203 medals in the 18 editions of the Asian Games which include 44 gold, 64 silver and 95 bronze medals. In the last Asian Games held in Indonesia in 2018, Pakistan’s performance was not that much satisfactory as the nation won just four bronze medals.
The country’s premier javelin thrower Arshad Nadeem, karateka Nargis, Pakistan’s men’s squash team and men’s kabaddi team were those who secured bronze medals.
Alam Zeb Safi Alam Zeb Safi is a senior reporter for The News